Happy Valentine's Day!!

I hope you all had a very lovely Valentine's Day!! We had a lot of good fun here in ole Paris!! We did get another mouse like rat on our trap the week before (the head was all that fit on the trap, therefore I will continue calling them rats!)

My new friend Stephanie (and yes, that is what I call her every time I reference her in conversations to others. Ha!) took our kiddos to a chocolate museum called Choco Story the morning of the love holiday. The kids had a ball and yes, we did eat quite a bit of chocolate!!! We read about and saw exhibits on the history of how chocolate was first discovered and how recipes have evolved over time. (I was particularly impressed with the Spanish recipe. Go figure!!) We saw many tools that are used in making chocolate and we even saw several pretty cups that were used exclusively for drinking chocolate. Then we watched an actual chocolatier make chocolates and he let us eat them!!! He said you have to study and apprentice a minimum of three years to be a chocolatier. Wow!! That is a long time to study chocolate! Before we left the museum we each had a delicious cup of hot chocolate!! Can you say HEAVEN!!! A whole museum of chocolate.

On our way home the kids and I were mesmerized by all the yummies in the windows of the boulangeries and we just had to bring home a strawberry something that tasted unbelievably good (because we were still needing sugar after a whole museum of chocolate, right?) and a heart shaped baguette with two hearts for my two Valentines.

Jarred brought home roses and other treats for the kids and we had a great dinner in!!

All in all it was a pretty great day!! Hey, check out Scout in the pictures! I could not get him to cooperate and give me a normal smile. He is such a little ham!!!


Until Next Time,
Megan

Just A Little Giggle!!

Oh my do I have a story for you!! I have no pictures, but I DO have a story!!!

Two nights ago Jarred and I had put the kids to bed and were laying in the floor of our apartment watching Lonesome Dove on Netflix. (we were on the floor because we have to sit up straight on our tiny love seat of a couch) (Oh! and we were watching Lonesome Dove because Jarred assures me it is a classic!)  All of a sudden a large life size rat comes running toward us on the floor and we both jump up and stumble around in sheer confusion. Now keep in mind we live on the third floor and there are sleeping people above us and below us, not to mention our own children are in the next room asleep. So, we are doing those whisper screams and yells every time we see this little guy. And, oh he is not being shy about making his presence known.

A little side note. My mother was a wonderful mother growing up and there are very few problems or life situations that I can pin on her, BUT my fear of mice I CAN!!! This woman has let out death curdling screams, acrobatics, and even tears. Oh, many tears over these little rodents. She gladly passed this down to my sister and I!! Seeing our mother go into sheer panic whenever a mouse was even mentioned has had a little affect on me. You may notice that as this story plays out!!!

So, back to Wednesday night!! I am now standing in a little red chair of our apartment holding a tennis racket in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other and directing poor Jarred where it is. My night in shining rat killing armour is armed with a metal pole from the closet and a small rug for trapping. He informs me that I am gonna have to help him and I am telling him "Oh, no" Oh, no" as I begin walking toward the rat. We get it trapped behind the TV stand and Jarred informs me this is just a "mouse". Like that makes it any better???? NO!!! And, for the record this sucker is black with a long tail. It is smaller than I originally thought, but a baby rat is still a RAT. Well, the night in shining mouse trapping armour lets it get away. We couldn't find it anywhere. We had no idea how it got in or how it may have gotten out. The sucker is gone. So, Jarred finely talks me into going to bed. I slept none.

The next morning, Jarred goes on to work and I do not tell the kids about the night before because they are a bit like their mother and seem to get all worked up over small rodents. Well, while sitting on the couch the rat runs around a corner of the kitchen into the living room and back and into a cabinet then out again and back up and down the wall. Emma looks at  me and says, "Is that a rat?" I told her it was. Scout, Emma, and I sat on this tiny love seat and pulled our feet up and every time the little rodent ran we screamed like a roller coaster scream. Then when the little critter ran into the cabinet we were dead silent. This went on for several minutes. Screams, silence, screams, silence....you get the idea?? I finally called Jarred at work and demanded he come home and kill this rat. I said "it is terrorizing us!". He had a hard time wrapping his head around how a small rodent could be terrorizing three humans, but it totally was.

Jarred walked into this apartment with a mop. Really, a mop. He quickly determined the rat was not going to come out of hiding to be whacked with his mop, so he ran down to the store and bought some traps. He baited one trap with American peanut butter and one with French stinky cheese so we would for sure know the country of origin of this rat. Guess what?? It only took about fifteen minutes for the smell of the cheese to lure the little rascal out of riding. It was a French mouse. We are sure. May he rest in peace.

So, Jarred has convinced the children that this was just a little mouse. I am still not so convinced. That was one long thick tail, but maybe French mice resemble the American rat. Who knows?? My mind may just not be able to make that little sucker harmless, because it never felt harmless when it was playing mind tricks with us.

So, I hope you can all have a little giggle. I was not laughing then, but now I am!!


Until Next Time,
Megan

Complaints and Blessings

We have been back in Paris for almost 2 weeks. I would say that we finally are back into a routine, well for us. I may need to warn you that this post will probably have a little more whining than I usually put on here, hang in there you'll see why.

First, jet lag stinks!!! I mean STINKS. We went through an entire week with the kids up, eating meals at 3am. They would go to bed when we asked and it was "bed time" and lay and cry because they couldn't go to sleep. Then they wanted to sleep until 12pm and we were trying to get them up because that is how you get them to sleep at night. Let me just emphasize it was NOT FUN. We seemed to all sleep through the night last Saturday night and since then we are doing much better.

Second, due to the aforementioned sleep craziness getting us back into any kind of a "school" pattern was next to impossible last week. I thought I was OK, just going with it. I have since discovered this week...I am not. I am feeling all kinds of panicked over missing several days of work. My O.C.D. is in over drive and now I am seeing poor Emma being in kindergarten forever because her mother and father moved her to Paris and couldn't get their sleep schedules worked out and she will never learn to read and therefore never become successful and self sufficient.Whew!! Y'all see how my brain works. It ain't pretty.

Third, this city is GREY. It is one thing to be cold and rainy, but grey for about a week and a half. I CANT TAKE IT MUCH LONGER. Well, I don't have to. The sun finally came out earlier this week and I wore sunglasses. (It wasn't that bright, but somehow it helped my psyche!) I actually saw on some website I was browsing that there is a color of paint called "Paris Grey". I am back and forth on if that will ever be used in my home. I'll get back to you.

OK, OK, OK, I will stop complaining and start counting my many blessings. (count them one-by-one) You know you were thinking the same thing!

1.We found the American food store!! It is called The Real McCoy and makes my heart happy. Well, finding pop-tarts for the kids and baking supplies to make cornbread and having labels I can read....that makes me happy. Having to pay 9.50 euros for a (yes, that is singular) package of Oreos for Jarred.....does NOT make me happy. But, a little comfort food helps the soul, right?

2.We have also been so blessed to find a babysitter to help us out during our French lessons that is so sweet. She really seems to enjoy our children and it is so nice to have another American that we interact with weekly!!

3.We also found a doctor that speaks great English and has the quirkiest and funniest sense of humor. I have never giggled and laughed so hard while someone was examining my kids. They thought he was totally weird. Who isn't?

4.The most exciting thing that has happened since we have been home is.....we made some new friends. It was a match made in christian, speech therapy, homeschooling, Paris HEAVEN!! Yes, we have all those things in common with another American family living right here in Paris. We met through a friend of mine that I go to church with (Jennie) and this girl (Stephanie) went to college together. So, when Jennie saw on facebook that we were both posting things about living in Paris she played match maker and set us up. I owe her one, BIG!! I don't think my entire family has ever hit it off so quick than with this family. They are precious!! They have a daughter (who is just a little older than Em) that has become fast friends with Emma and Scout. She is a very sweet and funny little girl, I really enjoy her company. Stephanie and I have a lot in common and it has just been super easy to hang with her. I am so thankful.

The gang in front of Saint Michel Notre Dame last weekend.

 

 

 

Then we moseyed to the American Library in Paris. (They are sitting in a reading nook that looked like a cave) The kids loved it here!!

 

 

Scout fell asleep on the way home! See!! That was super exciting to this Mommy and Daddy!

 

 

 

Until Next Time,

Megan